This's my first trip to Shanghai, China and for some weird reasons, I was not particularly thrilled bout' this. Prehaps I made a hasty decision to join my Dad for the Bauma Exhibition 06 held there, during the big 'O's.
Well like the usual procedures of going to the airport; having dinner together, saying goodbyes, going through customs etc. It has been bout' 12 years since I've been on an airplane, and to other countries besides M'sia. The good thing is, that I bought myself a copy of the issue of EGM(UK) containing those Halo 3 multiplayer bits and chunks. The sad thing, I can't find the TimeZone arcade in the transit area.
I boarded the plane via some room named C17, and it kinda brought back familiar memories. The security check, that travelator, the tunnel connecting the plane's entrance. Well as I suspected, the economy class was a little too small for my size. Even my sister, who went on a trip to Hokkaido, Japan earlier this year had a TV screen and games to play, music to listen and even got a free Pokemon toy ! All I got was a bad night's sleep, squeezy conditions and a uncomfy seat. It was 1~2am when the plane left Singapore, and 15 minutes after that, we're forced to wake up, seat upright (bring the chair up) so that the passengers behind can open up the "table" to place their food with. For me, I can't even sleep. Try sleeping upright. Trust me it hurts.
So beside the fact that economy class is small, jam packed, it was a good experience. The thrust we feel during lift-off, the bouncing feeling during landing.
Reached Shanghai bout' 4~5 hours later, and I seem to recall that it was around 5~6am+ when we reached Shanghai. Dead tired but I switched my body to "energy saving" mode and managed to survive til 3pm. This is due to the fact that there's such a weird law regarding checking in of hotel is only authorized after 12noon. It has since been years since I first experienced the "Holy crap" thingy. Dragging our luggages, we went to eat at KFC. And between KFC and us was the Maglev (Magnetic train) station (More of an area). So we bought our tickets, assuming that KFC was INSIDE the station. To our horror, we had to leave the station to get there. But heng lah, the security guard allowed us an exception to leave and enter again later. Anyway the KFC there sells porridge, and egg burger o.O
Took the Maglev towards Long Yang(龙阳) Station, and the train felt like a skateboard travelling at 301 Km/h max speed. Smooth ride I must say. So dragging the ever heavy lugguages, we took a shuttle bus from the station to Bauma Exhibition 06 held at Shanghai Internation Expo. Apparently the crowd is starting to gather at the entrance, and the chinese there aren't really friendly. They cut queues. By the masses. So again, I managed to squeeze myself in amongst the huge crowd of chinese and some foreign visitors. Again, dragging of luggage issues, me, my dad and his friend aka uncle Sim, walked through 2 of the 4 exhibition halls. I was 1/2 dead during this time. So don't ask me bout' that visit that day.
Around 3pm+, we dragged our physically exhausted bodies back to our hotel, Xing Yu hotel (星宙大酒店). I took a short nap before leaving for lunch at 5, and it was some shop located in some famous shopping district. Claimed by my dad, the area was like some ancient China's kind of shops cluttered together. 小笼包 populated this area, and seriously, it tasted good. Very different from the Singapore version. There's also this dish where people drink their soup in this bowl sealed with a big bun on top, out of straws. Kinda weird. After dinner, we headed back to our hotel room, and I proceeded to watch TV. Tons of cable, but just no sports or english ones! Bored, I went to sleep. I woke up at 10pm, ate the take-away food bought by my dad went he apparently ditched me in the room alone and went to sight-see. Because I slept earlier, I was unable to sleep lor. I sat on my bed and written down what to blog for day 1. And yeah, I read that EGM mag too. Halo 3 totally rock my world XD
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